revised version published in: B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics: Advances in Macroeconomics, , 2010, 10 (1), Article 28
So far the literature has found that the effect of macroeconomic fluctuations on training decisions is ambiguous. On the one hand, the opportunity cost to train is lower during downturns, and thus training should be counter-cyclical. On the other hand, a positive shock may be related to the adoption of new technologies and increased returns to skill, making training incidence pro-cyclical. Using the Canadian panel of Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) we find that (i) training moves counter-cyclical with the aggregate business cycle (more training during downturns), while at the same time (ii) the idiosyncratic sectoral shocks have a positive impact on training incidence (more training in sectors doing relatively better). This finding helps us understand training decisions by firms and has important theoretical and policy implications.
We use cookies to provide you with an optimal website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site as well as cookies that are only used for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, you may not be able to use all of the site's functions.
Cookie settings
These necessary cookies are required to activate the core functionality of the website. An opt-out from these technologies is not available.
In order to further improve our offer and our website, we collect anonymous data for statistics and analyses. With the help of these cookies we can, for example, determine the number of visitors and the effect of certain pages on our website and optimize our content.